Reception
A reminder that the contribution for Spring Term 1 is £6.00
WE ARE ALWAYS UPDATING THIS PAGE! REMEMBER TO LOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR NEW PHOTOS AND DOCUMENTS.
WELCOME TO RECEPTION CLASS
This terms topic is
'How does my garden grow?’
In Reception our teacher is Miss Hopkins and our Learning Support Assistant is Miss Hanson. Mrs Hopkinson will be covering Miss Hanson during her maternity leave.
RE in the Early Years
At St Patrick’s we teach RE using ‘Learning and Growing as the People of God’. This document is the curriculum strategy for Religious Education in Catholic Primary Schools in the Archdiocese of Birmingham. It lays out clearly the steps to be taken in RE at each stage of every term in the Nursery and Primary Years. It provides, therefore, the foundations for improved partnership between school, home and parish, a partnership that lies at the heart of Catholic Education.
This term we will be exploring the units on 'Christmas' and 'People who help us'
Christmas: In this unit the children will hear the story of Christmas and will focus upon the birth in the stable and of the shepherd visitors.
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People who help us: In this unit the children will be introduced to the role of the priest as a special person in God’s Family who helps people. This unit also has a focus on the church building as an important place within the parish community. The children will also learn about a saint being an important person in God’s Family. In this unit they will also consider the help that Jesus gave to people when they needed it.
Virtues & Values
Our focus for the first half of the Spring Term is
COMPASSIONATE & LOVING
Compassionate: We are compassionate when we feel sympathy and concern for other people who are in difficulty, whether they are near to us or far away.
Loving: We are loving when we show our sympathy and concern for other people by our actions and by our words.
LIFE IN RECEPTION
Our topics change regularly based on the children's interests, as well as environmental and cultural influences. The topic for Spring 1 is 'HOW DOES MY GARDEN GROW?'. Each term we will upload our topic plan so that you can see what we are going to be covering.
At St. Patricks, we follow the scheme Read Write Inc to teach Phonics daily. Have a look at the documents and video clips at the bottom of the page for more guidance. Reception children will begin to learn to read and write a new sound each day. Reading books are changed once a week to give children the opportunity to reread the book to become fluent readers and talk about what they've read. We award stickers to each child if we see at least 3 comments from home in their diaries per week. The stickers add up to a prize at the end of term. We also complete a weekly 'dough disco' session. During this we manipulate playdough in different ways along to music. Dough Disco helps to strengthen the muscles in our hands to support letter and number formation. .
GOING FOR GOALS lead our weekly PE on a Tuesday afternoon Children will need white t shirts, black shorts or jogging bottoms and black plimsolls. In order to support your child's independence in school. Please encourage them to dress and undress themselves at home.
We are a very healthy classroom. The children will get a free piece of fruit daily so you do not need to provide any snacks. Children under 5 will also get a carton of milk. Once your child turns 5 years old, you can pay should you wish to continue receiving a milk. We also encourage the children to drink water throughout the day. Please send your child with a named water bottle each day. 'The Friends of St Patrick's' have generously given the children their first bottle for free but additional bottles or tops can be purchased through school.
Each half term we send home a project. This is an opportunity to work together as a family The 'home learning projects' are returned to school at the end of each term and work is displayed so that we can all see how wonderful our children are.
We capture some of the children's learning using our online learning journal. https://tapestryjournal.com/ Please log on and add photos or videos of your children at home. This helps to inform our assessments as children will get different opportunities.
Should you have any queries. Please feel free to come and speak to me at the end of the day.
Miss Hopkins
OUR CURRICULUM
We follow the Early Years Framework which focuses on 3 Characteristics of Effective Learning:
Playing and exploring - engagement
- finding out and exploring
- playing with what they know
- being willing to 'have a go'
Active learning - motivation
- being involved and concentrating
- keeping trying
- enjoying achieving what they set out to do
Creating and thinking critically - thinking
- having their own ideas
- making links
- choosing ways to do things
Each of these characteristics underpin everything we do, and are part of the 7 key
areas of Learning and Development in the Early Years:
Prime Areas
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- making relationships
- self-confidence and self-awareness
- managing feelings and behaviour
Physical Development
- moving and handling
- health and self-care
Communication and Language
- listening and attention
- understanding
- speaking
Specific Areas
Literacy
- reading
- writing
Mathematics
- numbers
- shape, space and measure
Understanding the World
- people and communities
- the world
- technology
Expressive Arts and Design
- exploring and using media and materials
- being imaginative
Each term we ask for a contribution to buy items to stimulate the childrens learning. This may be a cooking or craft activity such as making biscuits or playdough. Without your donations we would no longer be able to provide these opportunities.
This terms donation is £7. This is payable on a weekly basis or as a termly payment.
Thank you